Mili

Mili is a drama thriller film directed by mathukutty xavier. It is the official remake of the malayalam film 'helen' directed by the same director.

Jhanvi kapoor has improved a lot since her dhadak days. She has understood the assignment and she knew that only facial expressions were not enough to emote, she definitely did a fine job with her body language as well. Though she needs to work more upon her dialogue delivery, its still a work in progress. She should take more challenging roles like this. Manoj pahwa does some outstanding work here. As mili's father, he shows the anguish and fear of losing his child brilliantly. He is a veteran, who got the space here and just nailed it. Sunny kaushal did not have much to do, his was mostly of a reaction role. The other supporting characters were good. Anurag arora will definitely challenge you with your patience.

The cinematography is brilliant. The freezer scenes are exquisite. The contrast between the outer world and that confined space was brilliantly built up through the camera distance from the character. There was no space in the freezer for mili, close up shots, zoomed in shots were the majority. The sound mixing too is brilliant. You get literally startled in some sequences, when the sound suddenly kicks in. The scene where sound fades out from the freezer, to the employee chamber, to the shop door was a good one.

There is some visual storytelling as well. In the opening sequence, an ant is followed by the camera. What happens with it is literally the plot of the movie, and the ending too is the same ant one. The songs are quite good, not AR's best but 'jeena hoga' and 'tu hai rahi' are really melodious.

There is a brilliant cameo by jackie shroff. The film also talks about the caste differences that is still a major talking point in north india and also the subtle misogyny about a girl working late night shifts. Also, the different shades of police force is also beautifully dealt with.

The screenplay is smooth and seldom lets its viewers off the hook. The emotional core of mili and her father is set up wonderfully and that is one of the major reasons why we connect with it. The character of sameer could have been written better, his love with mili was half baked.

A pretty good remake with some really good performances with an impeccable sound design. Should watch this!!

Survival thrillers are a rarity in any film industry, let alone Bollywood, but there have been quite a few initiatives in the past few years, and I must say, regardless of their successes or failures, I'm glad that they at least attempted to venture into this relatively uncharted territory.

Coming back to 'Mili,' it's an official remake of 2019's Malayalam film 'Helen', which starred Anna Ben (which I haven't seen yet, so I have no way of comparing the two). This appears to be a reasonably competent thriller if I evaluate it strictly on its own merits.

In addition to delivering the expected ingredients of suspense and despair, it also captured the essence of a father-daughter relationship that blossomed into something wholehearted. In addition, everyone's performances were also very commendable. Particularly Janhvi Kapoor.

She may need a dozen opportunities for improvisation, but one cannot deny her willingness to take on unconventional roles that will force her to grow as an actress. She still has a long way to go, but one thing is for certain, she is indeed on the right course.

Bollywood do have few survival thrillers, if anyone watched Rajkumar Rao's Trapped, then you will feel this one a mere dissatisfaction. But its not just survival, though the main theme is that but they have added a lots of Bollywood elements to it and emotions. Don't expect a thriller because the story is simple but the acting and drama is really fun to watch. Every actor is fun to watch and how story builds up is interesting but lacks depth in the survival theme. The movie would have been a whole different movie if it focused on the survival angle but it covers also the unnecessary parts which makes the film boring. The start was slow and didn't added much to the story, so were some middle parts, felt parts like when Jackie Shroff appears and illogical delays made by police overexaggerated. In India, I don't think police would take such extensive actions if someone is missing for just 4-5 hours. Jhanvi acted well, I came to see her and she didn't disappointed, but her character could have been smarter then what was portrayed.

This was definitely not your typical Bollywood movie. I expected song and dance, and I got something completely different. I was pleasantly surprised by the originality. There were plot holes all over the place, and characters acted nonsensically and unrealistically at times. However, the storyline itself is not bad. The lead actress does a credible job although the writers have her doing some pretty dumb things at times. Nevertheless, I was happy that the movie did not follow the old, worn out Indian movie formula and struck new ground with creativity. The first half was better than the second, but overall this was a solid watch.

The negatives out of the way first: there is much that is predictable and stereotypical in certain characters' behavior and plot outcomes. And the opening sequence begins with an ant, when there is a far more impressive creature in the story we are invited to care about.

All that said, even though we know this is a remake and the star is the producer's granddaughter; even though we know it would take far more time and healing for her recovery, that all slips over to the side in light of Kapoor's superb performance. Because that is this film's success: a smart woman, also a nurse, who keeps thinking of viable ways to survive in an increasingly impossible situation. And even tries to save her little patient trapped with her as well. She has both Courage and Compassion that make us want her to survive. I enjoyed this movie. 7.5 Recommended.